Saturday, May 17, 2014

27. The Naturals - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

1st
sentence/s: "The hours were bad. The tips were worse, and the majority of my coworkers definitely left something to be desired, but c'est la vie, que sera sera, insert foreign language cliche of your choice here. It was a summer job, and that kept Nonna off my back. It also prevented my various aunts, uncles, and kitchen-sink cousins from feeling like they had to offer me temporary employment in their restaurant/butcher shop/legal practice/boutique."

My
comments:Yes, I liked it. Since this was a YA, I was a teeny, tiny bit surprised at the level of "grizzliness" of the murders that were the centerpieces of the story. I love that investigations and forensics are available for teens, as well as the mystery/problem solving. However, there wasn't enough character development for me, the times that the main characters were introduced and got to know each other were skimmed over quickly to get directly to the major plot. Therefore, I had to guess about and fill in my own thoughts about the relationships between Cassie and her peers a bit more than I liked.

Goodreads Review: Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.

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About Me

I'm a newly-retired fourth grade classroom teacher, I've taught fifth grade, middle school literature, and college-level children's literature. Now I work as an assistant in the Youth Services department of a big public library....heaven! Originally from New England, I spent 14 years in the glorious sunshine of Tucson, Arizona, and moved a year ago to south central Pennsylvania - a new adventure! I adore my kids, my grandkids (I got married at "age 9"), my students, books and reading, quilts and quilting, yarn and knitting, papercrafts and altering books, genealogy, letterboxing, - and hitting the road to adventure far and wide. There are only two states that I've not yet visited, but I'm determined to get to all of them, even if I have to row.... Next goal? Foreign countries? US capitals or major cities?